Americans spend $3 billion on St. Paddy’s Day, half are clueless about its origins

Americans spend an estimated $3 billion celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, but over half of those who celebrate don’t know what the holiday represents, says a study released today.

A survey conducted by vouchercloud.net of 2,311 men and women across the U.S. found that 53 percent of those surveyed failed to correctly identify what the holiday signifies.

All those taking part were asked, “Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?” to which 34 percent said ‘yes’. When asked what they did to celebrate, the most common answers were:
1) Dress up/ wear green- 53 percent
2) Go to Bar/ Night Out- 35 percent
3) Host or Attend Party- 32 percent

The research found that the average American spends $41.20 celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Taking into account that 34 percent of respondents claimed to celebrate, this would mean that 82,225,110 US adults celebrate the day.
Therefore, as a nation, US citizens spend $3,387,674,532 celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, the researchers concluded.

Matthew Wood of vouchercloud.net commented on the economy-boosting celebrants:

“It’s fantastic to see so many across the States get together to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and a great signifier of the patriotic spirit across the nation- even if it is for the patron saint of another country! Whatever the reason for celebrating, it can only be a good thing that we have such a celebratory spirit- although it was surprising to see how much this costs us collectively. Just make sure that you can afford to party when the day comes around, as getting into debt for a good ol’ knees up on behalf of St. Patrick may leave you paying for it for longer than you anticipated.”

So, why is the day celebrated? Here’s what history.com has to say:

“St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint’s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast-on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.”